Doctors & patients are saying about 'A-Fib.com'...

"A-Fib.com is a great web site for patients, that is unequaled by anything else out there."

Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

"Jill and I put you and your work in our prayers every night. What you do to help people through this [A-Fib] process is really incredible."

Jill and Steve Douglas, East Troy, WI

“I really appreciate all the information on your website as it allows me to be a better informed patient and to know what questions to ask my EP.

Faye Spencer, Boise, ID, April 2017

“I think your site has helped a lot of patients.”

Dr. Hugh G. Calkins, MD Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore, MD

Doctors & patients are saying about 'Beat Your A-Fib'...

"If I had [your book] 10 years ago, it would have saved me 8 years of hell.”

Roy Salmon, Patient, A-Fib Free,
Adelaide, Australia

"This book is incredibly complete and easy-to-understand for anybody. I certainly recommend it for patients who want to know more about atrial fibrillation than what they will learn from doctors...."

Pierre Jaïs, M.D. Professor of Cardiology, Haut-Lévêque Hospital, Bordeaux, France

"Dear Steve, I saw a patient this morning with your book [in hand] and highlights throughout. She loves it and finds it very useful to help her in dealing with atrial fibrillation."

Dr. Wilber Su,
Cavanaugh Heart Center, Phoenix, AZ

"...masterful. You managed to combine an encyclopedic compilation of information with the simplicity of presentation that enhances the delivery of the information to the reader. This is not an easy thing to do, but you have been very, very successful at it."

Ira David Levin, heart patient,
Rome, Italy

"Within the pages of Beat Your A-Fib, Dr. Steve Ryan, PhD, provides a comprehensive guide for persons seeking to find a cure for their Atrial Fibrillation."

Walter Kerwin, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

2018 AF Symposium Live Case: CryoBalloon Catheter for Isolation of the LAA

by Steve S. Ryan, PhD.

B. Knight MD

During this live streaming video, Dr. Bradley Knight from Northwestern Un. in Chicago, IL demonstrated the use of a CryoBalloon Catheter to isolate the Left Atrial Appendage (an off-label use, i.e. a new use not described in the FDA approved device labeling.).

Patient background: His patient was a 72-year-old man with hypertension and persistent A-Fib. He had an ablation in 2013. His ejection fraction was low but improved after a cardioversion to 40%. July 15, 2017 he had a right atrium Flutter ablation. He was on amiodarone which had to be stopped because of thyroid problems.

He developed severe Left Atrium enlargement and his ejection fraction went down to 30%. His PVs was were very large and hard to isolate. It was recommended to do both a repeat PVI and to isolate the LAA.

Isolating the Left Atrial Appendage

To isolate the Non-PV triggers originating in the patient’s Left Atrial Appendage, Dr. Knight used a 28 mm CryoBalloon catheter in order to penetrate deeper into the LAA.

A second freeze was performed and then a third freeze was necessary because the LAA was still generating A-Fib signals. Before we could see this third freeze, the allotted time slot ran out.

The use of the CryoBalloon catheter appeared to be an effective treatment (though an off-label use) to isolate the LAA.

Editor’s comments:

I was surprised that two CryoBalloon lesions didn’t effectively isolate the patient’s LAA and a third lesion was necessary.

On the other hand, the use of the CryoBalloon catheter to isolate the LAA is in the very preliminary stage of research.

From watching Dr.Knight’s live case, it doesn’t seem like the CryoBalloon catheter will emerge as a viable method of electrically isolating the LAA.

If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Saturday, February 16, 2019

Back to 2018 AF Symposium Reports